Gagarin1961 OP t1_j5vo4w0 wrote on January 25, 2023 at 9:53 PM

Starship will play a key role in NASA’s upcoming Artemis missions. SpaceX was contracted to land Astronauts on the moon for Artemis 3 & 4 via a specialized lunar variant of Starship.

Starship will be the largest spacecraft ever developed, which will deliver unparalleled capabilities to the lunar surface, but will also require unprecedented refueling procedures. The lunar lander will need to be refueled 4+ times, each requiring a full launch of Starship, which is already larger than the Saturn V moon rockets of the 60’s.

Since it’s totally reusable, this will actually cost significantly less than competitor options.

We are definitely about to enter a new era of spaceflight.

Black08Mustang t1_j5vypfo wrote on January 25, 2023 at 11:02 PM

It's like the late 60s all over again.

DBDude t1_j5z2ttx wrote on January 26, 2023 at 3:50 PM

A while back I calculated out how much it would cost to fuel Starship based on existing known numbers. I can't remember exactly, but it was only like a few million dollars, and that to send 100 tons to LEO. Musk's goal of $10/kg to LEO seems pretty doable.